How to Choose the Right Jewelry for Your Skin Tone and Face Shape

Choosing the right jewelry to buy can be a tricky, confusing and sometimes even frustrating experience. The following article will help you choose the jewelry to buy based on your skin tone and your face shape, two factors that crucially affect your choice.



Determine Your Skin Tone. Locate an area on your body where veins are visible, usually the wrist serves as a good reference point. Based on the color of your veins, your skin tone may fall into one of two categories, cool or warm:

• Cool skin tones are identifiable by bluish colored veins. People with cooler skin tones may notice pinkish or rosy-red undertones when looking in the mirror. Eye color can range from light blue to dark brown and anywhere in between. Most people have cool skin, including people with dark skin and tan skin.
• Warm skin tones are identifiable by greenish colored veins. People with warmer skin tones may notice yellow or golden-apricot undertones when looking in the mirror. Eye color can, again, be any color. People who's natural hair color is red, orange, or strawberry blonde almost always have warm skin. Sometimes hair may be more brown, but it will have a reddish tint. People with darker skin are not usually warm-skinned.

Pick a metal and complementary color:

• Metals:
  • Cool skin tones favor metals such as silver, platinum, and white gold.
  • Warm skin tones favor metals such as gold, pewter, brass, and copper.
• Complementary Colors:
  • Cool skin tones favor stones such as white pearls and diamonds. Stone color should focus on jewel tones such as pinks, purples, blues, reds, and magentas.
  • Warm skin tones favor stones such as coral or golden toned pearls. Stone color should focus on more earthy tones such as browns, oranges, greens, yellows, peaches, corals, and also turquoises.

Consider the shape of your face:

• Heart/Inverted Triangle/Diamond Shaped Face:
  • Earrings: dangle or drop earrings help to lengthen the face.
  • Necklaces: chokers help contrast and soften the sharp angle of the chin.
• Round/Square/Triangular Shaped Face:
  • Earrings: try elongated shapes such as ovals, or angular shapes such as rectangles. Square shaped faces look particularly well in teardrop earrings.
  • Necklaces: look for necklaces that elongate your face, typically necklaces that extend below the neckline (28" to 32").
• Rectangular/Oblong Shaped Face:
  • Earrings: choose short or round earrings to contrast the longer face shape.
  • Necklaces: chokers, especially if you have a long neck.
• Oval Shaped Face:
• Earrings: dangle earrings (not too long), preferably angular shaped.
• Necklaces: can be either long or short (if long neck, then chose a shorter necklace)